Today we traveled to Amiens,
northern France. Weather is definitely not kind to us today. Squally
winds and rain all the way. Good day for sightseeing by car.

The trip takes about 3 hours of freeway driving. Not a very interesting
drive, but given the conditions probably the most sensible way. By the
time we get to Amiens and find our hotel, The temp has dropped to about 4
degrees, the wind is near gale force, and the rain is freezing. Still,
we're only here for one night, so decide to make the best of it and do a
flying visit to Villers-Bretonneux,
site of one of Australian troops finest achievements during WWI, and to
the Australian War Memorial, which is located halfway between Villers-Bretonneux and Fouilloy.
Being the silly sods we are, we foolishly walked from the carpark up to
the memorial - about 200m. It seems like the weather gods knew that
this place was a place of death and destruction - the wind was fairly
howling of the hills, driving the freezing rain almost hoizontal. By
time we got there, read the commemorative plaques, and returned to the
car, it felt like our hands and faces were frostbitten!!. It was worth
it though. The memorial and cemetery are a magnificent testament to all
those who lived and died in this place.

Returning to Amiens we opted to hibernate in the hotel for a few hours, and thaw out a
bit before heading into the town square to investigate the Xmas
markets. They're reputed to be the best and biggest in northern France.
Can neither confirm nor deny that claim - these are the first Xmas
markets we have come across in our travels thus far. They were pretty
good though. Even the weather behaved itself - still freezing cold, but
the wind and rain had died away. Made for a most pleasant stroll through
the city.

Amiens turned out to be quite a pleasant stopover for one night. Probably didn't do it justice, but we enjoyed it. Would probably come back here if we had the chance.